Question: Sir, can you please speak on suffering and cessation of suffering?
Acharya Prashant:
Cessation of suffering is to know the suffering as false. Cessation of the suffering is the cessation of the confidence that you place in your suffering. Cessation of suffering is not the same as the stopping of something Real. Cessation of suffering is just like waking up from a dream. Cessation of suffering is just like getting rid of an imagination.
That is why the word “nirvana” is so beautiful word. It does not mean that you reach into another elevated state. It means your burning has seized. You are burning internally and now the flame is gone.
Suffering does not occur without your active consent.
Can you be happy without being full of acceptance for a situation? And your acceptance comes from your expectations. Can you suffer without being full of resistance for a situation? You suffer only when you do not want something to happen. Your resistance is the suffering and who is the one that resists? The one who feels himself to be threatened, insecure and small. So he says, “If this happens, then I am in danger. So let me resist.” The moment you resists, suffering starts.
